


A Thousand Years

by SifaShep



Series: The Quarian and the Infiltrator [12]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Mass Effect - Freeform, Songfic, shali, shepardxtali
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 13:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8287391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SifaShep/pseuds/SifaShep
Summary: She has watched him since the very beginning...and good things come to those who wait.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t usually do songfic, but this song fits them so well. Lyrics from A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. For the MEFFW Drabble Challenge on Facebook.

**Heart beats fast  
Colors and promises  
How to be brave?  
How can I love when I’m afraid to fall?  
But watching you stand alone,  
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.**

_**_**One step closer** _  
** _

She has watched him for a long, long time, from the very beginning. From that first moment in that back alley on the Citadel. Somehow, she knew she could trust him, even though every other sentient on the Citadel didn’t.

She has watched him as he stood against Saren, Matriarch Benezia, Sovereign. She saw his face as Kaidan Alenko died on Virmire. Heard his anger and frustration as he argued with the Citadel Council. 

Shepard had his crew with him, even though the rest of the galaxy stood against him. What could such a man see in _her_ , a shy Quarian who hid behind a mask? Who doubted her own reasons for loving someone who was so different from her?

As she watched him, she didn’t care what others thought. If he could be this strong, she could be too.

 _ **I have died every day waiting for you  
**__**Darling, don’t be afraid I have loved you  
**___**For a thousand years  
****I’ll love you for a thousand more**                                                                   

He was gone. Gone. She shook her head, even as Liara and Ashley held her back. _No, no, no_ …it wasn’t possible. He had gone back to save Joker, but the pilot was alone in the escape pod.

“I’m sorry, Tali. He…he got me into the pod, then…he couldn’t hang on, he…I’m so sorry…it’s my fault…all my fault that he died…”

Tali fought her way out of her Ashley’s iron grip. The soldier probably feared that Tali was going to kill Joker where he sat, and he wouldn’t even defend himself. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Joker and they both cried and mourned the man who meant so much to them all.

It was the beginning of two years of mourning. Two years trapped in a numb hell.

*****

**_Time stands still_  
Beauty in all she is  
I will be brave  
I will not let anything take away  
What’s standing in front of me  
Every breath  
Every hour has come to this**

**__**One step closer** _  
_ **

He stared at her. She was with a group of Quarians, here on Freedom’s Progress. Still the same, but somehow different. There was a newfound confidence in her stance, but it was mixed with uncertainty. The burden of command lay heavy on her shoulders.

What the hell was she doing here?

“Shepard? You’re alive?” Disbelief. Hope. Confusion. She wanted to believe but she was cautious. He didn’t blame her; considering the circumstances, he wouldn’t believe it, either.

“Tali, did the information I give you help you complete your Pilgrimage?”

“Yes…it did. Stand down, Prazza…”

He sighed in relief. She _did_  believe him. Relief flooded him…and something else. His mind flashed briefly to those horrible final seconds in free fall, before he blacked out:

_tali i’m so sorry God I’m so sorry I just wish I could have…oh God…can’t breathe…can’t die like this…tali…so sor–_

He found it hard to breathe now, but for a completely different reason. The universe had finally lost patience with his utter cluelessness and smacked him in the back of the head with sudden insight.

 _I love her. I always have._  He wanted her to come with him, but she had a responsibility to Veetor, to the Fleet. He understood, even as his heart ached.

He could wait a little longer.

*****

 **I have died every day waiting for you  
** **Darling, don’t be afraid I have loved you  
** _**For a thousand years  
** _ **I’ll love you for a thousand more**

She lay in his arms, exhausted but happy. Yes, she would pay for this later, but it was all worth it.

She reached up and touched his cheek, reveling in the feel of his skin under her fingertips. He smiled down at her and kissed her.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“Yes,” she whispered back. Even if they died on the Collector base, at least they had this time together.

She knew this magical time had to end. They would go through the Omega 4 Relay, and…

But they would survive. She sighed…now she had a reason to fight.

And so did he.

*****

 ** _And all along I believed I would find you  
_****_Time has brought your heart to me  
_****_I have loved you for a thousand years  
_******_I’ll love you for a thousand more_                                                                                                                    

He stood on the cliff on Rannoch and stared up at the stars. Forty five years of marriage, tonight. Where had the time gone?

There would never be enough time. But he knew better than to take anything for granted. After all, he had technically died _twice_  already. 

He smiled as he felt her wrap her arms around him from behind. She snuggled against his back, a welcome warmth in the chill of the night.

“The last of the guests are gone,” she purred. “You coming to bed?”

Shepard chuckled and turned to his wife. Tali smirked up at him, her eyes shining with all sorts of promises. 

“Yeah,” he murmured, and he drew her close and kissed her.


End file.
